Re: NT inerrancy??

Walt Hicks wrote:
> ... In modern (and KJV) versions of the NT, I note several conflicts. One
> may easily start with Matthew and Luke regarding the early history of
> Mary, Joseph and Jesus.
>
> 1. ) Where did they go soon after Jesus was born (say within 60 days)
> - --- Egypt or Nazareth?
>
> 2.) Was Nazareth the original home town of Mary and Joseph -- or was it
> not?
>
> Given the discrepancies -- how do we address the "infallibility" of the
> Bible? ...

Hi Walt,

on Christmas evening, when we had our (adult) children and a friend (not
yet Christian) here, I read them an "extended Christmas story",
comprising, in this sequence:
John 1:1-5
Isa. 9:1,5-6;
Luke 1:26-38;
Mat. 1:18-25;
Luke 2:1-35;
Mat. 2:1-15;
John 1:9-18;
indicating that I believe this to be the chronological sequence.

I believe the crucial point is that the wise men from the East arrived
in Jerusalem some time after Jesus was born (possibly having noticed his
star in Babylonia when he was born). That means they weren't in the
stable in Bethlehem where he was born. On the 8th day, he was
circumcised in Jerusalem. After another 33 days (Lev. 12:4), Joseph and
Mary brought the required sacrifice to the temple, were met by Simeon
and Anna, and then returned to Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 1:26; 2:39).
The wise men did learn that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, and Herod sent
them to Bethlehem, but then they again saw the star, which then directed
them to the place where Jesus was, i.e. to Nazareth. There, they went
"into the house" (eis ten oikian), where they saw the child with Mary.
In Bethlehem, there had been "no place for them in the inn", and Mary
had laid the child "in a manger", presumably in a stable, not a "house".
After the wise men departed from Nazareth, Joseph and Mary with the
child went to Egypt, from where they returned, after Herod's death, to
Nazareth.

Another indication that may perhaps support this interpretation is the
fact that Herod "sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and
in all that region who were two years old and under, according to the
time which he had ascertained from the wise men" (Mat. 2:16-17). Two
years old would be quite a margin, unless they had told him that they
had seen the star indicating his birth at such and such a time, probably
at least several months ago (which they would have needed for their
journey).